The Universe of God Copyright
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1 2 Beyond Belief! The Universe of God Copyright License, Copyright and Online Permission Statement Copyright © 2017 by Chalice Press. This version has been edited for Moon Beach Camp. Please note that some parts of this curriculum are specific to Summer Family Camp. For other camps, please edit daily theme offerings, etc. to best fit your camp’s needs! Contents 3 Welcome to InsideOut 7 Daily Overview for Beyond Belief More Support Online Biblical and Theological Overview 14 Staff Devotions 18 Daily Guides for Younger Children 39 Daily Guides for Older Children 61 Daily Guides for Younger Youth 81 Daily Guides for Older Youth 102 Daily Guides for Intergenerational or Family Groups 116 Adult Program Session Planning 126 Extras 126 Daily Worship Plans 130 Dramatic Readings 132 Arts and Crafts 133 Week-Long Projects 134 Games 136 Challenge Course Activities 138 Science and Nature 140 Table Talk 142 Beyond Belief! Journal Prompts 145 Snack Ideas for the Week 147 Song Ideas for the Week 3 Welcome to InsideOut! When you are a leader at church camp, you are an educator, guidance counselor, maintenance person, crisis manager, and song leader. You are also a pastor and a friend, and have the highest honor and responsibility of being the embodiment of Christ Jesus to many people who are longing to know God’s tender love. It is a hard job, but a worthy one. Probably the best news is that Christ dwells in you, and you can listen to that still-small voice and the communion of all the saints who support you, bless you, and cheer you on. All the same, you need to have the skills of a teacher, the comfort of a parent, and the wisdom of an elder to do the work of camp ministry. This curriculum is here to support you in that work. You will find in the pages ahead biblical theology done by scholars (who are also camp leaders) activities designed to help you share the Bible stories, games and projects that reinforce ideas and skills, and a whole lot of camping fun! How to use InsideOut Beyond Belief: The Universe of God! In this document, you will find a Biblical and Theological Overview for each of seven days, Daily Guides for seven days of materials for younger children, for older children, younger youth, older youth, and seven days for intergenerational or family camp. Following the daily guides are extra resources for arts, games, science and nature, challenge course activities, multi-day projects, “Table Talk” prompts, journaling prompts for older campers, snack and song idea lists. You will see Hashtags (#ThisIsaHashtag) listed beside each activity. They are there to help you categorize the types of activities you do with your campers, to ensure that you engage in many forms of Christian community. Really, they are just notating contemporary words for ancient Christian practices or spiritual disciplines. You could call them, “things Christians do in community.” For each day’s activities, you will see things that fall under five categories or disciplines: #learn, #play, #create, #pray, and #serve. They help you to provide a balanced day, appealing to differing needs of the campers and of the community. As you shape each day, try to include at least one activity from each of the five #disciplines. There are many things that Christian communities do together (it might be fun for you and your staff to make your own list), but these are some essential things that will help your community at camp “gel.” It may help you to think the phrase “Christians #learn together,” or “Together we #serve.” We also worship together. Worship at camp offers the unique chance to experiment—to try things that your campers might never have experienced in a traditional congregation. Each day you are offered two idea starters for worship experiences. You will see them listed as #celebrate and #centering. Your camp may be the kind that loves to use morning worship to get the juices flowing and the energy going and end the day with a gentle vesper service. Therefore, you might want to use #celebrate for your morning time together and #centering in the evening. Or your camp may be more designed to have a quiet morning watch and end the day with a campfire celebration. You can see how you might flip the activities to reflect those moods. This is your camp, and you know what’s best for it. InsideOut is here to provide you with ideas and resources to choose from. Daily Guide Each Daily Guide begins with a Title. The reference Scripture Story is given. The Scripture Focus is one or two verses from a key moment in the story. It may be used as a memory verse. If not indicated otherwise, the Scripture and Scripture Focus are taken from the New Revised Standard Version. The Scripture Focus is followed by a Daily Prophet. This is a secondary scriptural reference featuring a prophetic Biblical character. The prophet’s story or theme ties in with the daily scripture, as explained in the Biblical and Theological Background section. Next, a Theological Summary is provided in a sentence that demonstrates how the scripture is related to the theme of Christian community. Today, campers will… offers several bullet points that will be the aim of the activities of that day. Next, the Daily Activities are listed with one or more #hashtags. Finally, Leader Notes call attention to special details that counselors and other staff may want to be aware of. Daily Guide Day 1: theme and scripture for the day Scripture Focus: Quoted from the NRSV. If another translation or paraphrase is recommended for your age group, it will be listed here. Theological Summary: This is a sentence that relates the scripture to the theme of the day. Today, campers will… • These will list some goals for your campers today. • You may have one or two to whom you want to give special attention. • You will also find one acknowledging a legitimate fear. Daily Activities: This is a list of the activities that will be featured this day. Instructions and information will be found on following pages #HASHTAGS Beside each activity is one or two #hashtags. These correspond to five categories that the activities fall into. As you plan your day, you will want to have at least one activity from each category. The categories are things Christian communities do together. They are: #play includes games, sensory experiments, physical challenges #pray includes prayer or reflection #create includes creative writing, arts, music, crafts, design, drama #serve includes outreach projects, consideration of others #learn includes Bible reflection, life application, understanding theme Leader Notes: This section lists theological road bumps to be aware of, special notes of main theme, or important reminders about the nature of camp. Worship Activities Page The tools to design your daily worship can be found on the Worship Activities page. These can be used for devotional Cabin Time, small- group worship, or large-group worship. You will find suggested Song Ideas either to sing or to play for your campers. A Prayer that relates to 4 the day’s theme is suggested and can be used in a variety of settings. Because camps’ daily routines vary, you may need energetic worship experiences as well as more contemplative ones. Each Worship Activities page offers you two suggestions. One, #celebrate will work for eye-openers, campfire, or other enthusiastic, high-energy settings. The other, #centering, offers a more calming and contemplative suggestion. Additional worship resources will be found in the Extras section. Worship Activities Cabin Time: This is a guide for cabin counselors to incorporate into their morning or evening routine. These are ways that you can connect with your campers and help them know they are in a safe and secure environment. Song Ideas: Some suggested songs to either sing or listen to that support the theme Prayer: You can use this prayer during worship time, as a meal blessing, etc. Worship Ideas: #centering, #celebrate Here you will find two different activities to make worship meaningful. Because different camps have different types of worship (Eye-Openers or Morning Watch, Vespers or Campfire) you will find one worship type that has an enthusiastic and energetic mood #celebrate. The other worship idea, #centering, will be more contemplative or inward focused. Story Resources Following the Worship Activities page, you will find Story Resources: either a list of storybooks that are faithful to the biblical text, or sometimes a script for a play, a video that can be found online, or a contemporary film. You will want to check this section before camp to see if there are books or DVDs you want to borrow from your library or purchase. Daily Activities The bulk of the pages in each Daily Guide are the Daily Activities. These are the step-by-step instructions for the activities. Each practice will be titled and #tagged so that you can quickly find the one you’re looking for. The descriptions of the activities include four sections: Supplies, Why, How, and BTW. Supplies lists the items or resources you will need to complete the activity. How many of each item you will need will vary depending upon your group size. Why gives your leaders a rationale for the activity. This will explain how the activity will function in your group. Sometimes the purpose of an activity isn’t clear, but this section will tell your leaders how it relates to the Today, campers will… goals for the day. It also lets them know if the activity helps to burn off steam, calm and center, or reinforce learning the Bible story.